Gilbert Burns “Durinho”

Gilbert Burns, commonly known as “Durinho” is a jiu-jitsu black belt under Rafael “Fofitio” while being also regarded as one of his generation’s top grappling competitors, a status he held before switching his career focus to mixed martial arts (MMA), a transition that occurred after Burns conquered the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World title in 2011. A former member of the Oriênte Club and the Atos Academy in the sport of BJJ, Durinho’s MMA career started with the help of veteran cage-fighter Vitor Belfort, who Gilbert helped in the capacity of Grappling Coach during the filming of the 2012 reality TV program, The Ultimate Fighter Brazil (TUF) – Belfort vs Silva, later becoming a UFC fighter himself, signing his contract on May 2014.

Gilbert Burns Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Gilbert Alexander Burns

Nickname: The name “Durinho” started when Gilbert and his brothers Herbert and Frederick started training at the Nova Uniao HQ in Rio de Janeiro, as teenagers. One of the team’s main figures, Vitor Ribeiro used to jokingly call Gilbert’s older brother “Todo-Duro”, meaning “Hardman”, a jest celebrating Frederick’s tough-guy demeanor. Being a smaller version of his brother, the teammates started calling Gilbert “Durinho”, a humorous way of saying hardman – as in “tiny tough guy”.

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > Andre Pederneiras > Rafael Fofitio > Gilbert Burns

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2011)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi (2010)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro (2010)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2010)
• 3rd Place IBJJF European Open (2009)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2007/2006  brown)
• 2nd Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2007 brown)

Position/Technique: Distance Passing

Weight Division: Leve (75kg/167lbs) in Jiu-Jitsu.

Team/Association: —

Gilbert Burns Biography

Gilbert Burns was born on July 20, 1986, in a town called Fonseca in Niteroi – State of Rio de Janeiro.

Martial arts training started early for Durinho, who first picked up a jiu-jitsu gi at the age of 12, with his brothers Herbert and Frederick. Their first instructor being Luis Carlos da Fonseca, at the old Santa Marta College in Niteroi.

Two years later, Master Luis quit his coaching post due to personal issues, and Ramon Lemos, a well known brown belt from the area, took control of the kids’ workgroup. Ramos started taking his students to train with different coaches, including André Pederneiras at Nova União headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and at Associação Oriente academy in Niteroi, with Max Camâra and Rafael “Fofitio” Barros, a fruitful relationship that would live through for many years.

As time passed, particularly during his teens, Gibert spent most of his time training at Associação Oriente de Jiu-Jitsu in Niteroi, which led to two silver medals at the IBJJF World Championships as a brown belt. Shortly after his 2nd silver medal, in 2007, Burns was promoted to black belt by coach “Fofitio“. Later that year he moved to Rio Claro in the state of Sao Paulo, becoming part of Ramon Lemos‘s newly formed team. Durinho competed first under the Brasa Academy banner and later staying with Ramon when he formed the Atos academy in a combined effort with André Galvão.

In 2009 Burns conquered his 3rd silver medal in the World Championship, his first at black belt, making himself noticed in the sport’s top division. After this he did a tour around Asia, coaching in Singapore, Philippines and Hong Kong, going to the United States shortly after.

With the start of 2010, Gilbert began his best period at the time, reaching to the semi-finals of the European Open in January (allowing his teammate to advance to the finals), after that an amazing run at the World Pro Cup trials in Rio de Janeiro where he beat the heavy favorite Celso Venicius (who had only lost 3x as a black belt prior to this meeting). The two met again at the semi-finals of the main event in Abu Dhabi with the Niteroi wonder boy going through to the final, winning the gold medal, and the 8000 dollars prize money against Claudio Mattos. Gilbert Burns continued his good form as he went on to win the Brazilian Nationals in May that year.

On October 2011 Gilbert Durinho Burns officially left the Atos team, the reason given by Burns mentioned that he had been helping MMA fighter Vitor Belfort prepare for his upcoming fights, Belfort was a direct rival of UFC champion Anderson Silva. Silva was a student of Durinho’s coach Ramon Lemos and due to the conflict of interest, Gilbert felt it was best to leave the team in good terms.

Gilbert Burns vs Felipe Vidal (Brazilian Nationals 2009)

Gilbert Burns at Lutador Championship

Gilbert Burns vs Claudio Mattos

Gilbert Burns vs Chris Taylor